Pit Bull Survives Plunge off BQE From Moving Car

A pit bull is convalescing in a Brooklyn animal hospital after possibly being thrown from a moving car on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway Tuesday evening, landing on a busy street 25 feet below. Roseanne Colletti reports. (Published Thursday, July 31, 2014)

A driver said he couldn't believe what he saw falling from the sky on Meeker Avenue below the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway in Greenpoint.

"The way he was falling, head over heels down on the pavement, it just made us think we had probably seen a dog being thrown over the barrier," said Jon Ernsberger, whose car was almost hit by the falling dog.

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Two bike riders under the span were stunned to come upon the pit bull, crying and struggling to stand. The witnesses called police and took the dog to an animal hospital.

The dog, named Meeker for the avenue where he was discovered, suffered no broken bones but was treated for a collapsed lung and may need surgery to repair a hernia from the impact.

But the pit bull is expected to make a full recovery, according to the veterinarian taking care of him.

"Your first reaction is obviously anger," said Brett Levitzke of the Veterinary Emergency and Referral Group in Cobble Hill, "followed up quickly by very thankful that this good Samaritan saw it happen and then brought him in. Because without him, Meeker would probably be dead right now."